Ball Watch Co. is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the time Webster C. Ball, the company’s namesake, was commissioned to set the official railroad standard of timekeeping in the United States. The latest watch Ball releases to mark this notable anniversary is the Ball Engineer II Genesis Limited Edition that packs a lot of those features that we have come to love – and expect – from the brand.

Although the Ball Engineer II Genesis is a limited-production run, it is actually released in a number of different variations and even with the option of a customized case back. Available in either a 40- or 43-millimeter-wide and 13.55mm-thick stainless steel case with a screw-down crown and 100 meters of water resistance, the dial is either black or deep blue, while as for the strap, brown or black calf leather as well as a steel bracelet can be selected.

Regardless of color choice, Ball has added 28 tritium micro gas tubes to the dial, some of which are 1 millimeter thick for that extra pop in the dark. The result seems rather profound – in a good way – as there hardly is such a thing as “too much lume” on a dive watch. The key difference between tritium gas tubes and SuperLuminova is the fact that tritium glows ceaselessly and all by itself, i.e., without it necessitating an external light source to charge it. On the other hand, luminescent paint glows brighter right after it has been charged but glows only for up to about 10 or so hours before it turns completely dark. You can find out all about how these little glowing tubes are made in our special manufacture visit article here.

The tubes have been fitted to the dial’s hour indices – with 6, 9, and 12 being made of rather massive chunks of tritium tubes for extra legibility and, well, because they look rather cool. And as expected, the hour, minute, and seconds hands have also been fitted with tritium gas tubes.

Under the anti-reflective-coated sapphire crystal and the funky dial is the Ball RR1102 automatic movement, which should be a trusty ETA 2836 or its Sellita SW220 equivalent with date and day-of-the-week indications by the 3 o’clock index. The movement is held secure by Ball’s patented anti-magnetic and shock-absorbing holder which lends the watch a resistance to shocks up to 5,000 Gs – ticking another box of Ball watch “must-haves,” along with the tritium tubes.

The Ball Engineer II Genesis Limited Edition is available for pre-order here until December 31, 2015, with the free option of case back personalization, allowing for an engraving of up to 12 alpha-numeric characters. Pre-order price for the Ball Engineer II Genesis Limited Edition regardless of dial color and bracelet option will be $853 while supplies last and/or until December 31, 2015, with pre-orders shipping in March 2016; the retail price afterwards will be $1,550. ballwatch.com